>Crossdressing is not illegal.<
First of all, Rikki, I want to thank for your awesome input. As Sara and others have pointed out, your strength and courage are nothing short of sublime and tremendously inspiring. Very empowering stuff, sweetie.
As to the legal status of transvestism (here, in Canada, anyway), I've spoken a few times with several different law enforcement officials (yes, this girl has her own connections
) and they all agree: crossdressing, per se, is not illegal, but the context in which it occurs publicly is often subject to suspicion. Hence, police officers (on municipal, provincial, and federal levels) will tend to take a dim view of it and, more than likely, consider it a matter worthy of a closer look. That's usually the case, but not always. (I've only been picked up once by a squad car; after checking my ID and running it through their computer, the officers brought me home! True gentlemen. )Here are the relevant sections and articles in the Canadian Criminal Code that law enforcement agents usually look to in regards to crossdressing:
Disorderly Conduct
Section 173 (1) Indecent acts -- Every one who willfully does an indecent act
(a) in a public place in the presence of one or more persons, or
(b) in any place, with intent thereby to insult or offend any person,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction. [$2000 or 6 months in jail]
Section 174 (1) Nudity -- Every one who, without lawful excuse
(a) is nude in a public place, or
(b) is nude and exposed to public view while on private property, whether or not the property is his own,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Section 174 (2) Nude -- For the purposes of this section, a person is nude who is so clad as to offend against public decency or order. (my emphasis)
Section 403 Personation with intent -- Every one who fraudulently personates any person, living or dead,
(a) with intent to gain advantage for himself or another person,
(b) with intent to obtain any property or an interest in any property, or
(c) with intent to cause disadvantage to the person whom he personates or another person,
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to an imprisonment to a term not exceeding ten years or an offence punishable on summary conviction.
The onus, of course, is on the particular officer to prove whether or not intent is an issue. And, aside from idiotic Tinseltown portrayals of crossdressed criminals, intent is never an issue.
No mention is made, in either of these sections, of gender-appropriate clothing and behaviour, yet law enforcement officials rely on these (and other) articles of the Criminal Code to sometimes harass crossdressers and transsexuals. And that's just the federal law code; there's a whole slew of articles relating to indecency and public mischief in both provincial and municipal statutes.
Then, of course, there's the whole matter of crossdressing being intimately associated (in the minds of the ignorant, including police officers) with prostitution (not illegal here) and sollicitation for sex (illegal). Montreal has a not inconsiderable contingent of transsexual prostitutes, and cops on the downtown beat know them all by name. It's the "cops at large" (such as the ones that picked me up, right here in my own neighbourhood--and, no, I was just taking a stroll en femme, nothing else!!!) that often confuse legitimate transgender practices and activities with criminal or quasi-criminal behaviour.
We have a long way to go, girls. However, as Rikki says,
>We can all certainly do our part to make ourselves acceptable to society by acting and dressing openly, confidently, appropriately, and sanely. If we act as if we have something to hide, people will tend to think we have something to hide. If we act likeable, people will tend to like us.<
Judging from the people I've met here, on this board, "acting likeable" certainly won't be a problem. You are a bunch of likeable people.
We'll get there, eventually, I believe. One high-heeled step at a time....Love,
CJ
I wish I were more like you, but alas, I'm not. 
